PRAYER - The other side - prayer requests

I was contacted by a dear blog friend (you know who you are!) who e-mailed me with her thoughts about my post on prayer yesterday, along with this request:

"To further that, I was wondering if you would write sometime about the other side of the prayer fence, asking for prayers. I struggle with this a lot in that I often times think people ask for prayer for attention."

I was a little taken aback by the request because to be truthful I had, to that point, not thought about the side of the Prayer Requests. I have been pondering, thinking and praying about this request for the past 3 hours or so since getting the e-mail.

At this point in my life with God I do see that EVERYTHING comes from God and does not take God by surprise, althought a LOT of things surely take me by surprise. I've also begun to try and immediately respond to things as I feel God is placing them before me. As an example, 2 weeks ago I received a telephone call on a Saturday morning from our Sunday School teacher requesting me to teach the Sunday School class the next day because both he, and his wife, were ill. In the natural I wanted to say "no". Actually, in the natural I wanted to run the other direction quickly. BUT, I knew that it was more than the Sunday School teacher making this request and that God was asking me to step out of my comfort zone and walk in faith and trust with him. After only a few minutes hesitation (which seemed like at least a 1/2 hour to me) I said, yes.

I view this request in the same vane, while coming from a dear blog friend in the natural, really coming from God and stretching me to think, and respond about an area of prayer I really had not given much thought or attention to. So in obedience to that I will endeavor to put down my thoughts.

I guess the reason I haven't given the issue about asking for prayer too much attention is because Mickey & I are not really much ones to request prayer. Now occasionally, if something really big or tramatic comes up in our lives I will, and have, asked for prayer. Even here on this blog in the last year I know I have put out a general request on a couple of occasions that we coveted your prayers. The incidents concerned our beloved Granddaughter's decision when she left Tulsa and us for a while, and when our son returned from California and was facing some big issues and problems in his life.

Now that I really have begun to look at it I have to ask myself a couple of questions: 1) Do I not ask out of pride and a feeling of self sufficiency; 2) Do I not ask out of a feeling that it's my problem and I shouldn't bother others with it; or 3) Do I feel, that except for those rare occasions, it is my own responsibility to "come boldly to the throne room of God" and "storm the gates of hell" myself on behalf of my self and my loved ones and others needs.

At this point of just beginning to analyze this I'd have to say it's probably a little bit of all three. I truly see ourselves as having complete and total access to our Father God and not needing an intermediatary of any kind because we have Jesus as our advocate, sitting at the right hand of God ever making intercession for us. Because we have walked with the Lord and seen so many victories in our lives I know that I have a God that not only hears our prayers but answers our prayers. I know sometimes we do not see the manifestation of that answer immediate, or how we thought it should be. But, I know he hears and he answers!!!!!

As I'm writing this I see that I'm really addressing it more in a personal way than the actual question about other people making prayer requests. In response to that, and in agreement with the questioner, I do have to say that I have known people who seem to always be asking for the same thing, over and over again, and sometimes asking for things that ,in my humble opinion, are issues they should be dealing with and addressing themselves. BUT, having said that we must remember that we are the body of Christ and that we are there to fulfill the needs of the other members of the body. Period........and without reservation and without judgement. We are certainly all at different areas in this journey with our Lord. And we have to constantly remind ourselves it is a journey and not a destination. None of us have arrived!!!!

I am not happy with this post. It is rambling and not thought out. It is sitting down at this keyboard and typing my Penless thoughts as they flow from my mind and Spirit. I know I have done what God has placed before me and called me to do at this moment in time and space. I trust that those who He directs to read this will understand and show me the same grace He does!!!

This was a post that I wrote at 3:15 and sat on until now to re-read and decide if I was going to post it or not.